New here and need help!

Just log your calories. That is basically all you need to do. Eat some filling foods like soup, beans, peanut butter, cottage cheese. Everyone is supportive here. I was like you 5'4 and weighed about 208 at one time. You can do this, fifty pounds lighter feels good when you can wear your clothes and like to shop. If I can do it, you can to. Read the success stories and food dairies, this will help you.

Feel free to add me. I am 34 stay at home mom of 2 (10 yr old girl and 10 month old boy) and homeschool parent. I started MFP at the end of June weighing 220lbs and I am now down to 195 lbs. I am 5'2". I log on daily reading posts and responding. I use MFP for motivation to keep going as well. You can do this! I keep go along with MFP for my calorie intake and I exercise in my home 5 to 6 days a week. I do Zumba through youtube, dvds, and Wii. I also do walk away the pounds. I don't have a sitter and my husband works various shifts so it is hard for me to join a gym. I eat clean and not so clean haha! If I can do it then so can you!

The only way to lose 20 pounds fast is to have a leg amputated! Do not starve yourself. Eat 3 meals a day and possibly a snack.
Get as much sleep as you can, get up at the same time every day. Take a good adult multi vitamin. Concentrate on low fat and non fat dairy such as non fat greek yogurt with 1/2 cup fresh or frozen fruit, make yummy high protein low fat shakes using non fat greek yogurt, skim 1% or 2% milk, and 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen fruit. Portion size counts. Try avoiding refined carbs and allowing only a moderate percent of unrefined carbs into your food plan. Do not weigh more than once a week and do so at the same time of day and on the same scale every week. If you can do so every other week even better. Walk 10 minutes on day one even if you have to do so just around your yard. It is hard with a 3 year old. If you are not a single parent, get your partner to babysit while you take a short brisk walk in your neighborhood or can you put the child into a stroller that you can push? Extend your walk every day by a few minutes until you are walking an hour briskly each day. It is the single most important thing you can do to increase your energy.
Avoid starchy veggies like peas and corn which should actually be considered a refined carb when cooked. PERSEVERE and if you make a mistake, just keep on trucking.....be completely honest when you enter your food into myfitnesspal. This has become a very valuable tool to keep track of my food, and exercise. and Good Luck on your journey. It is a journey......to get weight and keep it off so that you can better embrace and enjoy motherhood to the fullest extent and the rest of your life.

I was in your shoes about 6 years ago. Since then I've lost a total of 45 pounds. My advice is baby steps. Change your life and don't "diet." Start just by logging what you actually eat. If possible weigh and measure everything. Once this is a habit, look at your life. What would you like to change? Such as eating more fruit or veggies, decreasing processed sugar, decreasing salt, increasing fiber, or exercising more. I also recommend working up to 8 cups of water a day. I seem to lose more when I'm well hydrated.
Focus on small changes you can stick to for life. Some good advice that often floats around on this site is to be good 80% of the time. Don't dwell on it when you fall off the wagon. Get up and get back on. Good luck to you!

First thing I did besides logging calories in and out was get myself a used stationary bike, its old but with a few adjustments I ride it and the weight came off, no it didn't happen over night but gaining doesn't happen that way either, and once it started it kept going, and the more I lost the better I felt and am keeping it off today also. I have much more energy than I ever did, I feel and look great and am very happy with the weight I lost. You can do this if you set your mind to do it, baby steps at first but if your determined you will do it. I keep my diary open always so if I have a cheat day its there, I drink lots of water, makes me feel really good, some do some don't, feel free to add me as a friend, and be honest with yourself and it will come off............... Good luck on your journey!

eat clean. adding 1 piece of fruit a day was the first change I made in my life. The second was limiting sugary beverages like soda. In my opinion it is better to make small long term changes life long even. Be patient with yourself. Eliminating particular foods cold turkey never worked for me but learning to control when and how much I ate of it was hard but more manageable. The most effective thing for me is finding healthy food that I like even more than the unhealthy food. It takes some time on the internet searching and botching recipes but it works! For example switching past noodle lasagna with zucchini lasagna(no pasta).

Lots of water and Unsweetened Teas. Lemon and Lime when you need a little extra flavor.

Good luck.

eat clean. adding 1 piece of fruit a day was the first change I made in my life. The second was limiting sugary beverages like soda. In my opinion it is better to make small long term changes life long even. Be patient with yourself. Eliminating particular foods cold turkey never worked for me but learning to control when and how much I ate of it was hard but more manageable. The most effective thing for me is finding healthy food that I like even more than the unhealthy food. It takes some time on the internet searching and botching recipes but it works! For example switching past noodle lasagna with zucchini lasagna(no pasta).

Good luck.

What is eating clean??? Why isn't pasta healthy??

OP don't think of food as good or bad, it's food.

Your posting is soooo familiar...Tired of starting over. Personally, part of my program is to list anything that touches my lips. Posting my food intake early in the a.m. gives me direction for the day...I must send to my sponsor and that also keeps me grounded to the commitment of the day.

I noticed your conerns about carb and etc...as you list you foods, you will note that the calories, carbs, fats are right there...sometimes I must adjust my daily intake if carb level is too high.

In closing, through the years I have tried numerous programs and this is the only one that works for me.

Stay focused...

Analyse yourself and understand why you want the change.
Get friends.
Read and learn from the forums about how to establish:
Calorie deficit accurately and log it.
Nutrition about what you eat and compare it to previous diets.
Incorporate some exercise.
If you get stuck or lost then ask. Read the posts of losers for some inspiration.
Have faith in yourself you cna make the changes needed.

Bet everyone has told you that already.

All that I mean by eating clean is non processed foods, no fast food. Food should go bad or mold. Whole grain pasta is good but white pasta doesn't really have much nutritional value other than empty carbs and tasting good. The refining process strips the grains of there bran and nutrition. Lasagna is a high calorie food usually and making it with vegetables instead of pasta brings the calorie count way down.

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